Hair tips for September

I'm cutting my hair

I've been on a natural hair journey since September 2011 however since then until April 2014 I would typically let my hair stay in braids for 2 to 3 months at a time. Once a took the braids down I would make sure that within a day after take down I have braided my hair again. My braided hairstyles rotated between very thin twists (Masaai twists) or soft dread. That was my easy regimen, I was convinced natural hair was hard work and tucking it away in braids was an easy way of 'maintaining' it.

For some of you who may not know why I decided to go natural, you may go ahead and read my interesting story here. In summary, I had an experience where my hair just literally fell off as I tried combing or even holding it with my fingers. Very scary experience trust me!

Recently, I have found myself curious, wanting to know how my hair would look if I had always been healthy in my natural regimen. Both from a volume and length perspective. Of the 4 years I have been natural, I have only had a healthy hair journey for a year and four months (thus far). And I have seen an amazing response from my hair. So curiosity has the better of me and I'm in a phase where I feel like 'I am planning to cut my hair' and start afresh. Yes people I'm wondering if any of you has felt that way? Should I decide that I'm cutting my hair?

Remember to check my instagram page on @afromoriri and let me know what you think I should do.

Love - AfroMoriri

Don't know how to build a hair regime - a guide for natural or relaxed hair

Food for thought

Let's start off with your night time routine. Do you wear a doek? If yes we need to change that. The material used for doeks and pillow cases sucks out all the moisture in our hair. So if you had moisturised that morning, all those efforts were to vain. Secondly we all toss and turn at night, thus causing some sort of friction which in turn aggravates this process of moisture loss. But it also exerts some friction that could make your hair break easily. Solution is to get a silk based duk or piece of material or pillow case. I have both, mostly sleep without the doek as I have silk pillow cases. Mind you it isn't necessary to have both. I'm just O.D.D. For example when I'm relaxing watching tv,  I always lay the satin cloth against my cushions on the couch so that my hair doesn't rub against the harsh material covering the cushions/couch. 

Everyday moisture routine

Fortunately for you, your hair is straight from relaxing it. So it doesn't need to be re-moisturised as much as mine. With natural hair I re-moisturise daily, But in your case it would be every other day or even every 3 days. Which means twice to thrice a week. When choosing your moisturiser, please stay away from lotions or creams or hair food that has parabens or mineral oil. Just check in the list of ingredients. The reason I say stay away is, these ingredients only coat your hair shaft and make it glossy/shiny and therefore give the misleading appearance that your hair is moisturised. They were a cheaper way (for the producers and in turn the consumer) of fooling us 'darkies' when marketing strategies for achieving the sleek look started. 

I recommend one of the following:

1. that you get yourself an empty spray bottle (Dischem sells them in their travel section) then add either distiller water (bottled) or cooled water that was boiled in a kettle to the spray bottle, some drops of pure glycerin, olive oil and some drops of aloe Vera juice. For example 2 thirds water, and the last third glycerin, olive oil. Then spritz your hair with this lightly, don't spray till hair is damp. 

2. buy a moisturiser that has water (aqua) as the first ingredient followed by glycerine and shea butter (no preferred order to the latter as long as they are part of the ingredients straight after water). For example, the olive miracle anti-breakage cream. Shea butter is the 5th ingredient in this cream but that's fine. Dischem and Clicks sell it. 

Fortnight haircare

If you had natural hair I would say do this every week but again, you are lucky your strands are straight and not coiled. 

I recommend that you do one of the following:

1. buy coconut oil, and apply it to slightly damp (not wet) hair. It comes hard (state) but as soon as you place it in your palms it melts from your body temperature. Cover your hair with a shopping plastic bag or shower cap for an hour to 4 hours. Personally I prefer doing this overnight while I sleep, the longer you do this the more benefits. You'll notice that your hair gets 'sweaty' when you take off the plastic cap, that's called the greenhouse effect and is a sign you left the bag on for a sufficient time. Coconut oil is the one oil that is the most closest to our hair sebum(oil that moisturises our hair and scalp naturally) so easily penetrates the hair shaft. Thus leaving your hair moisturised amazingly!!!!! Go to this link for the steps to follow when doing this treatment. 

2. do a hot oil treatment. You can do your own home made, instructions available on my blog too, at this link. Or buy the African Pride growth oil from Dischem. I love it. It has instructions on how to do a hot oil treatment.  Leave it on for 20-30 mins for more benefit. 15 mins is still good though. 

Monthly routine

You need a monthly routine, even if your hair is in braids or weave. Thou shall learn to care for your hair. Once a month, please please, do a hair mayonnaise treatment. It adds protein to your hair. If you only focus on moisture your hair will break. You need a balance of both moisture and protein. Buy hair mayonnaise at Dischem too. For your moisture routine you can do one of the fortnight recommendations. You could go get these treatments at the salon as well. 

Quarterly routine

Please make sure every 3 to 4 months you check split ends. They are a BAD for your hair's health. They are even so ill mannered they can progress by extending further down your hair strand. Once they do, you will have much more damaged hair which won't be able to hold moisture and will certainly break. So you won't retain as much length then end up thinking your hair doesn't grow.

Routine while in braids or weaves

Get a water based moisturiser or use your daily spritz explained in the beginning of this mail. 

Other related (GYM)

Don't forget that hair thrives better in clean conditions. If you gym, your scalp needs more cleaning than an inactive person due to the sweat that builds up. Plus in Joburg there's too much air pollution, so our hair needs a good clean. Please try shampoo your hair once a week, especially if you have an active lifestyle. If you sweat a lot, you might consider washing your hair mid week with a conditioner. That means you get two washes per week. The lady who helped me in my hair journey actually has relaxed (texlaxed though) hair,  her haircare suggestions are worth a read on www.hairequest.blogspot.com as they are good for both natural and relaxed hair!

Love - AfroMoriri

Washday after taking down cornrows(protective style)

My second protective style this past winter was a set of cornrows accompanied by 2 strand twisted braids on the crown of my head. This style was kept for 4 weeks. I really liked this style because it allowed me to access my scalp so that my castor oil challenge didn't get a setback.

On the day I took down the style, I was impressed with how the hair had no knots nor tangles. This came as a surprise because I usually experience knotted hair when my hair is braided. The only possible explanation for this pleasant surprise is the water and castor oil mix which I used on a daily basis as well as oiling my scalp 3 times a week for the Castor oil challenge. I mean this was the only difference in my regime in comparison to other times when my hair is braided. So in future, I will ensure to use this method of hair maintenance. In case you are wondering, I didn't wash my hair in this 4 week period.

The following is the procedure I followed in taking down the braids and cornrows:
1. I undid the cornrows in small sections of 4 rows at a time. Took down the braids in small sections too.
2. Used coconut oil to finger detangle (dry detangling) each small section of the cornrows or braids.
3. Proceeded to further and gently detangle each section using a wide tooth comb. In this process also remove shed hairs.
4. Twist the small section of the 4 rows (or braids) then proceed to undo the next 4 rows and repeat steps 1 to 4.
5. Once all my hair was in small twisted sections, I went twist by twist(the small sections I just twisted), unravelling the twist and applying a generous amount of  my prepoo mix. My prepoo mix had extra virgin olive oil, honey, pure glycerine, peppermint oil and castor oil. I ended up with 4 big sections. The reason for this specific prepoo was:

• Olive oil is a light oil that penetrates the hair and helps give moisture. It also prevents dandruff& conditions hair.
• Honey also conditions hair, giving that soft smooth feel to hair. It also helps retain moisture. 
• Glycerine also helps retain moisture. It not only helps retain moisture but also draws ('sucks') moisture from its surroundings.
• Peppermint oil prevents dandruff and promotes hair growth by stimulating blood circulation in the hair follicles (that ticklish burning like sensation).
• Castor oil benefits are explained here

6. I left the pre-poo on my head, with a plastic cap on for 4hours. In the last hour I added heat to ensure maximum penetration and benefit as my hair needed pampering.
7. Washed my hair with a sulfate free shampoo. Then proceeded to do an apple cider vinegar rinse to clarify the hair and remove product build up that would have taken place over the 4 weeks. This rinse also restores the scalp's pH level.
8. Deep conditioned with a protein treatment
9. Deep conditioned with a hydrating treatment
10. Moisturised and sealed-in moisture
11. Blow dried my hair using the tension method, and having applied a heat protector.
The following pictures illustrate the process explained above:

Hair tips for August

Happy healthy hair!!!

Common myths about black natural hair

Growing up there were many myths that at the time were hard core truth, mainly based on believes that are passed on generation by generations. However I have since learnt that these were utter MYTHS, not true and came about from a lack of knowledge. Now I know why they say knowledge is power!

The following are the myths that are widely spread in the part of the world where I am from, please comment and share your side of the world's myths about black hair.

1. Water is not good for our hair/stay away from rain,swimming and any water. Even shower water. This is not true: in fact black hair needs basic moisture in the form if water more than other hair types. Due to the curly coil shape of the hair, black hair tends to easily lose moisture and often it isn't easy for the moisture to travel along the strands from the root to the end of the hair. So one has to constantly spritz a water based moisturiser to the hair, even using distiller water in a spray bottle is good for moisture.
2. Natural hair is hard work. Personally I believe natural hair requires more care and delicacy but once you get a good regime going, it isn't hard work. I actually enjoy my hair more now that I am in touch with it and don't opt for the easy/quick way out.
3. Afro/natural hair is stronger than other hair types. No, natural hair isn't necessarily the strongest. It could appear fuller when it is actually thin and thus more sensitive. Not every girl with natural hair has strong hair so ladies, stop abusing that hair thinking it can endure all the strain!
4. Hair products can grow hair, so always be on the look out for a cream,oil,or product that can give you amazing growth in a short period of time.   There is NO hair product that grows hair, longer and healthier hair comes with good hair practices, AKA regime. A good hair regime helps you nature your hair and retain length, so the growth comes with the regime. Plus we all have different rates of hair growth, if you measure yours per month then you will know whether you are retaining length or not.
5. Plaiting hair grows the hair long especially when the braids/wool/cornrows are very tight. This isn't true, when you have natural hair, plaiting it stretches it, therefore gives you the true length by unravelling the coily shape. So your hair hasn't necessarily grown because of the plaits but it has been stretched. And plaiting hair too tight isn't good, long term it damages your hair and even results in the common 'bald' look on hairlines. 
6. Trimming hair makes it grow longer than usual. This isn't true, trimming hair gets rid of split ends and therefore leaves you with more healthier strands than before the trim. Split ends can travel down towards the root of the hair, thus making it easier for your hair to break off easily, but to also break off a longer piece of the hair. 
7. Natural hair is sore to comb. This can be true but only because the traditional ways if combing black hair in its natural state are wrong. Methods that work for white or straight hair were adopted without question. For example thin teeth combs are a no no for our hair. The teeth tend to cause more tangling/knots and more breakage. The tangling occurs due to the coily shape. Secondly, combing dry natural hair will definitely be painful. I suggest moisturising the hair and either finger combing or using a very wide teeth comb. Then when combing start from the ends of the hair and work towards the root. Don't ever push a comb from the base/root of the hair to the ends - it will break!  
8. Natural hair is like a 'skirr-poto'. Very hard and course like velcro. If your hair is as hard as a skirr-pot or Velcro it is simply because it is DRY. Like I said our hair needs the most moisture compared to other hair types. You need to figure out how to moisturise it, preferably with water, followed by a good cream and oil so that you lock-in that moisture. I use shea butter as my cream, and different oils such as coconut oil or castor oil.
9. Natural hair is for people who want to make a political statement and are fighting for a cause. Not everyone who has natural hair is a hippy or a soul sister or a dagga smoker. No! This is just a stereotype. 
10. If you have natural hair you tend to have a low self esteem and aren't beautiful. My opinion on this is if you are quick to slap a relaxer on your hair and convince yourself that you aren't beautiful then you have deep issues you need to resolve. If you none of your friends know how you look like without a weave or relaxer then maybe you also have issues. Or you are plain lazy and are choosing an easier way out. I know that I can confidently look at myself in the mirror with my Afro and feel beautiful and confident. I know who I am. A former colleague of mine once told me a local radio station was speaking about a study from the US that says girls with natural hair have a low self esteem and was quick to want to tell me I also do because I'm a natural. My response was that yes it is possible to have low self esteem due to the constant pressure from the media, the constant promotion of sleek relaxed hair. I also asked her a few questions such as, "don't you think opting for the easier way out by being the first to relax your hair could mean you are the one with a deeper sense of low self esteem" and "if it was such an issue to be a natural would I not just get the quick fix which takes literally 10 mins to convert my hair and then overnight gain the self esteem?". She continued senselessly arguing that I have a low self esteem because I'm a natural but I realised she was a stubborn mule who misinterpreted what she heard. I even told her "why would I blog so much about natural hair if I hated it and wasn't confident about it" and she gasped in surprise saying "oh you blog about it" and I said "yes I do and obviously you don't know how passionate and sure of myself am I about our natural coils". 
11. If you are a natural hair girl, you cannot wear a weave as that is contradictory and hypocritical. No people, no! Just because I have an Afro doesn't mean I'm committing a crime when I wear a weave. Is the problem the fact that the weave is straight? To me, the weave is a form of a protective style similar to braids or yarn/wool. When I choose to not relax my hair, it is because I would rather not burn my scalp from the toxic ingredients in relaxers such as sodium hydroxide. Also, I choose to still care for my hair through my regular regime even when my hair is in a weave or braids. Unlike some ladies who wear weaves for periods of a month to two months without washing the hair underneath, conditioning it and moisturising it. 

Status update: my hair's response to the castor oil challenge

In my last post at this link, I mentioned that I was taking part in the intermediate level of the castor oil challenge. As you may know, castor oil has many benefits such as:

• Promoting healthier and thicker hair strands
• Regrows edges and helps with a receding hair line
• Moisture sealing and conditioning of hair
• Does not clog pores
• Controls dry and itchy scalp
• Improves scalp circulation which in turn promotes hair growth

How has the challenge been so far?

I have been faithful in applying the oil to my scalp twice a week. However I am in a protective style and was only able to properly use the oil as a sealant before plaiting my hair. I also have succeeded in using the oil in my daily spritz,which I apply to both the cornrows and the twisted braids of my hair. When I take down the protective style next week (it will be 4 weeks then) I will use the oil in my deep conditioner as well. So far my hair is loving it and there's a significant amount of growth I am seeing as well as lesser itching. Here are some pics: